This is because new electronic technologies deal with the very essence of human society： communication between people．Earlier technologies，from printing to the telegraph，have done likewise， and have wrought big changes over time．But the social changes over the coming decades are likely to be much more extensive，and to happen much faster，than any in the past，because the technologies driving them are continuing to develop at a breakneck pace．More importantly，they look as if together they will be as Dervasive and ubiquitous as electricity．Whether this will be for good or ill is impossible to predict， because how they are applied will be a matter of social and political choice． Many of these choices will be difficuIt and divisive．
Billions of dollars have been lost betting on the idea that the internet would quickly change everything from retailing to entertainment．Internet usage has continued to grow，but most dotcoms have failed。and the telecommunications industry，which raced to build the infrastructure for cyberspace，is staggering under$1 trillion of debt．。Yet it would be wrong to conclude that this is the end of the internet revolution． Boom and bust often follow the introduction of radically new technologies． In the1870s America’s railroad industry boomed in much the same way as the world’s telecoms industry in the late 1990s，only to collapse in a similar heap of bankruptcies，accounting scandals，stockmarket losses and enormous debts．④America’s economy fellinto recession．
A few years later。a reviving economy together with advances in railway engineering triggered a new wave of investment．Railroads quickly revived，changing American business forever．The same sort of thing happened when the internal combustion engine came alon9．In the first few years of the 20th century there were thousands of people tinkering with carmaking，most of whom went bust．A decade later only a handful survived，but the car was about to become the icon of progress．
The reason to think that the internet revolution will not only resume but accelerate is that advances in its underlying technologies show no signs of slowing down．The power of computer chips continues to race ahead． Moore’s law according to which the power of a computer chip will double about every 18 months has proved to be true since l965，when it was first propounded by Gordon Moore，a cofounder of Intel，a chip maker． Intel is confident that it will be able to maintain this pace of improvement in silicon for another 15 years．Recent breakthroughs by researchers at IBM and Hewlett Packard in molecular electronics lead many experts to believe that Moore’s law will continue to apply for perhaps another 50 years．Similarly dramatic advances in storage and transmission technolclgias are also in prospect． [458 words]
1．The underlined word“ubiquitous”in the first paragraph most probably means ______．kaoshida
A．omnipresent
B．enormous
C．universal
D．unique
2．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．The internet is likely to change everything quickly．
B．The advances in communication between people drive the society forward．
C．The limit to the power of computer chips will never reached．
D．Electronic technologies will no doubt replace earlier technologies．
3．The America’s railroad industry is mentioned in the passage to illustrate that ______．
A．internet revolution will never fail
B．modern technology isn’t necessarily a good thing
C．a(chǎn) rising industry is likely to collapse
D．railroad finally became the icon of progress
4．The author believes that ______．
A．there is no progress without boom and bust
B．a(chǎn)ll industries have to collapse first before they succeed
C．the internet wilI continue to suffer more setbacks
D．the internet and related technologies really will profoundly transform society
5．The author’s attitude toward the internet revolution is ______．
A．depressing
B．puzzling
C．optimistic
D．pessimistic
Billions of dollars have been lost betting on the idea that the internet would quickly change everything from retailing to entertainment．Internet usage has continued to grow，but most dotcoms have failed。and the telecommunications industry，which raced to build the infrastructure for cyberspace，is staggering under$1 trillion of debt．。Yet it would be wrong to conclude that this is the end of the internet revolution． Boom and bust often follow the introduction of radically new technologies． In the1870s America’s railroad industry boomed in much the same way as the world’s telecoms industry in the late 1990s，only to collapse in a similar heap of bankruptcies，accounting scandals，stockmarket losses and enormous debts．④America’s economy fellinto recession．
A few years later。a reviving economy together with advances in railway engineering triggered a new wave of investment．Railroads quickly revived，changing American business forever．The same sort of thing happened when the internal combustion engine came alon9．In the first few years of the 20th century there were thousands of people tinkering with carmaking，most of whom went bust．A decade later only a handful survived，but the car was about to become the icon of progress．
The reason to think that the internet revolution will not only resume but accelerate is that advances in its underlying technologies show no signs of slowing down．The power of computer chips continues to race ahead． Moore’s law according to which the power of a computer chip will double about every 18 months has proved to be true since l965，when it was first propounded by Gordon Moore，a cofounder of Intel，a chip maker． Intel is confident that it will be able to maintain this pace of improvement in silicon for another 15 years．Recent breakthroughs by researchers at IBM and Hewlett Packard in molecular electronics lead many experts to believe that Moore’s law will continue to apply for perhaps another 50 years．Similarly dramatic advances in storage and transmission technolclgias are also in prospect． [458 words]
1．The underlined word“ubiquitous”in the first paragraph most probably means ______．kaoshida
A．omnipresent
B．enormous
C．universal
D．unique
2．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．The internet is likely to change everything quickly．
B．The advances in communication between people drive the society forward．
C．The limit to the power of computer chips will never reached．
D．Electronic technologies will no doubt replace earlier technologies．
3．The America’s railroad industry is mentioned in the passage to illustrate that ______．
A．internet revolution will never fail
B．modern technology isn’t necessarily a good thing
C．a(chǎn) rising industry is likely to collapse
D．railroad finally became the icon of progress
4．The author believes that ______．
A．there is no progress without boom and bust
B．a(chǎn)ll industries have to collapse first before they succeed
C．the internet wilI continue to suffer more setbacks
D．the internet and related technologies really will profoundly transform society
5．The author’s attitude toward the internet revolution is ______．
A．depressing
B．puzzling
C．optimistic
D．pessimistic